About this project

$14,264

pledged of $13,500 goal

96

backers

Eleven-year-old Jessica Wood and six other children watch the closing ceremonies of the Olympics from a stadium suite in London. Suddenly a group of armed terrorists burst through the door, and within moments the children and their parents are traveling deep underground, away from what is set to be the most devastating terrorist attack in history.

It’s August 12, 2012, and the world is about to change. Seven Poets and the Assassin’s Secret is the story of seven children’s escape from the terrorists behind the attack, and their flight to new lives filled with mystery, danger and adventure.

A New Kind of Story

Seven Poets and The Assassin's Secret is an original, first-of-its-kind, serialized story developed for iPhone and iPad and iPod touch. It’s been conceived to span multiple mediums including traditional books and films, but it all starts here—with the application.

We need you to help us push the boundaries of digital storytelling and release Seven Poets to the world. This is an experimental storytelling structure built on long-proven principles like serialization and new forms of user engagement made possible through the technology of today.

The Team

Seven Poets is a story written and developed by Dallas-based start-up Edmund Pevensey, LLC (that's us--the one's doing the Kickstarter campaign). We developed the idea, and we're creating the content, themes, tones, etc.

But we're working with the amazing team over at inkle to develop the app-- they're designing the actual system/experience. inkle is based in Cambridge, UK. You'll notice the British influence in some of the command language within the app--we enjoy it thoroughly.

You can learn more about both teams over to the right.

The Chapters

The heart of the Seven Poets application is the chapters. They’re much like the chapters of a book, only they’re being released in real-time beginning August 12th--yes, THIS AUGUST 12th--the one that is just days away. And for 12 weeks you’ll follow the lives of the characters as they unfold—from the underground tunnels of London to the fields and forests outside Paris. New chapters will be released throughout each week, and a timer will always let you know when the next chapter will be made available.

The Broadside

The Broadside is a newspaper. Like most papers, new content will be released each morning. Unlike most papers, the Broadside lives in the fictional Seven Poets universe--inside the application. And after its senior staff is killed in the attack, the Broadside’s long-time intern begins to piece together inconsistencies in the official report that lead him deeper and deeper into the world of the chapters. You’ll find essays and articles from special real-world guest contributors from time to time as well as headlines that echo real world events. Imagine there’s an earthquake in Los Angeles and the next day that exact same earthquake shows up in the story you’re reading. Creepy, but also awesome.

The Challenges

Seven Poets is an epic adventure about justice, truth, overcoming grief, and helping those without a voice, and it’s been designed to extend those same ideas into the lives of readers.

So, after you’ve finished a chapter you’ll have the opportunity to participate in a challenge to unlock reward content—character journals, sketches, videos—all tied into the story. Once you’ve started the challenge you’ll have a set amount of time to complete it and unlock your reward which then becomes a part of Your Story.

Your Story

The challenges are meant to bridge the fictional Seven Poets universe with your life in the real world. That’s why your responses to each challenge will be saved in the Your Story timeline as digital reminders of your Seven Poets experience.

Why You Should Be Confident This Will Be Awesome

We’ve been working as a team for the last several years, helping organizations across the country understand and help tell their stories. We’ve worked with places like the UN Foundation, World Vision, the American Heart Association, and many many others. First for an agency, and then, more than a year ago we started our own company.

And in the midst of all of that, we released a successful independent film that spent several weeks in the top 20 and then top 10 of iTunes independent. We loved it, and still do, but our passion really lies in working at the intersection of storytelling and technology—telling big stories like Seven Poets and pushing the boundaries of how stories are told. It’s our passion and it’s our expertise.

And it’s not just us. We’ve partnered with inkle Studios in Cambridge, UK, experts in storytelling and application design and development. They produced the much lauded Frankenstein app, and they’re the creators of the new inklewriter format for interactive fiction. They’re brilliant and they’ve got the app pretty much ready to go.

Why We Need Your Help Right Now

The framework for the application is complete, as is the first couple weeks of content. But since we’re going to be running this real-time, there’s a ton of ongoing content and design that needs to be created from now through the end of October. Things like chapter and newsroom illustrations, reward content, as well as simple things like hosting and ongoing app maintenance.

We’ve invested more than a year of our lives into this project already, and we need your help to push through these last few steps and create something truly great. And since the start of the story is tied to a real-world event, it has to launch on August 12th!

Rewards!

The rewards are all things we would want--either because they're really cool or useful, or hopefully, both.

**All estimated delivery dates reflect the estimated date of the thing that will take the longest. So for instance, you'll receive your app content code the week of August 5th even if you purchase a higher level that says delivery in October or December.

Books

We love books. That’s why we’re releasing a very limited edition paperback that will include both the chapters AND newsroom articles at the $27 and above level--a physical artifact to go with the digital release.

Mugs

What's better than reading while drinking coffee? Probably nothing. Which is why we'll be offering mugs as a reward.

T-Shirts

Designs are forthcoming--we'll post options and let you vote on the one you want to see. T-shirts will be high quality fabric (American Apparrel-y) because we'd actually like you to want to wear them.

Creative Involvement

Writing for the Broadside, creating a Challenge, and being written into the chapters are all on the table. See the appropriate level for more details.

Handbound Books

These will be truly one-of-a-kind handbound copies of Seven Poets and the Assassin's Secret. They're very limited, and each one will be different as they're being approached by the designer, Dustin Bailey (Seven Poets chapter illustrator), as art projects.

You should support this Kickstarter if you like…

books

reading

newspapers

taking pictures

new things

learning

having fun

pushing the boundaries of storytelling through technology

helping people

countdown timers

rewards

mobile apps

the number “7”

poets

children

With Any Extra Funds…

We’ll deliver a better product. More money means more things can be designed and developed and there's a lot of great content we're simply not going to be able to produce because of cost.

Please help us push the boundaries of digital storytelling and release Seven Poets and the Assassin's Secret to the world.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $27 or more
About $27

THE APP & BOOK: You'll get the app, your name in the credits, AND a very limited edition print copy of Seven Poets and the Assassin's Secret that includes articles from The Broadside. This is very likely the only time the book will ever be printed in this form and it'll be a great physical reminder of your amazing digital support.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $48 or more
About $48

APP, BOOK, TEE: You'll get the app, name in the credits, the very limited edition copy of the book, AND an awesome tee-shirt. We'll put designs up for you to vote on once the campaign is underway, but you should know two things: They'll be high quality t-shirts, and we really hate bad design.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $52 or more
About $52

APP, BOOK, MUG: Don't like tee-shirts? Like coffee or other liquids? This is your level. You get the app, name in the credits, the very limited edition copy of the book, AND a high quality, two-tone, Seven Poets mug that you can drink from for years.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $85 or more
About $85

YOUR NAME HERE: If you prefer your name to our names (and we wouldn't blame you, especially if you have a cool name like Benedict Cumberbatch), then check this out. You get everything from THE "AND" LEVEL except instead of a signed book (you still get the book), we'll work your name into The Broadside.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $127 or more
About $127

WRITE FOR US: the Broadside is unique in several ways, but one is that it gives us the chance to bring the voices of other writers into the world of the story. This is your chance to be one of those voices. You'll work with the Broadside's editor to determine a topic and time. We'll retain some editorial control because we have to make sure everything fits in the story, but we'll make sure your article appears in the app. AND, you'll get everything in THE "AND" LEVEL.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $200 or more
About $200

CREATE A CHALLENGE: One of the coolest things about the Seven Poets app (we think) is how we're able to extend the world of the story into the life of the reader through challenges. You'll get everything in THE "AND" LEVEL, and we'll also bring you in to collaborate on creating a challenge for the one of the chapters. You'll get an inside understanding of how we think through each week and day of content, and you'll help put together the experience for the user.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $750 or more
About $750

HANDMADE: Everything in THE "AND" LEVEL and a hand-bound book made by the same designer that created the chapter illustrations for the Seven Poets. Each book will be unique, containing the chapters and newsroom articles as well as other elements of design from the app. We're very much aware this might sound lame, but we assure you these will be closer to works of art. *You'll notice the date is February for delivery--since these will be uniquely crafted by the same person, they'll be delivered at different times, in order of first support. We'll keep you updated throughout the process.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $1,500 or more
About $1,500

FATHER & SON: This is truly unique which is why it's extremely limited and expensive. Two things will happen. First, you'll be written into a chapter of the book as a character. You'll be interviewed and analyzed until we have a decent enough understanding of who you are to figure out how you might fit into the story. You might be in one chapter. You might be in more. But you'll be very much alive in the Seven Poets universe. Second, you'll receive an original oil painting of a scene from the book. You'll be written in by the author, Matthew Brown (Son). The painting will be by James E. Brown (Father).